Hooray for pot!

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Derivatives of the active compound in cannabis -- cannabinoids -- may have the potential for treating inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, UK researchers report.

"The system that responds to cannabis in the brain is present and functioning in the lining of the gut," lead researcher Dr. Karen Wright, of the University of Bath, explained to Reuters Health. "There is an increased presence of one component of this system during inflammatory bowel diseases," she explained.

Wright and her colleagues established the location of cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2 in human colon tissue, and used human colon cell lines to investigate the binding of cannabinoid compounds and in wound-healing experiments. They report their findings in the journal Gastroenterology

The team found that CB2 was increased in colonic tissue characteristic of inflammatory bowel disease. Cannabinoids enhanced surface wound closure via CB1-related mechanisms.

"Cannabinoids, which we make ourselves, as well as synthetic cannabinoids, can promote wound healing in the gut, which is extremely interesting given that inflammatory bowel disease involves damaged gut linings," Wright said.

Although results are available yet, she added, relevant studies of the use of cannabinoids are taking place in the UK and a clinical trial is being conducted in Germany.

....you can write your congressman or your MP and MPP here in Canada. Also, there's an California based organization called WAMM (Wo/mens Alliance for Medical Marijuana) that are fighting hard to make this natural herb available for people with real chronic pain. You can find them on the web.

I've never understood how you can outlaw a PLANT. Here in Canada, we have recently been working towards relaxing the laws for possession, and opening up more usage for medical purposes. If people could grow it organically for home usage, imagine how much crime would be wiped out! Not to mention the danger of whatever additives are being put into street "pot".

Not trying to start a debate, but more and more medical research points to the benefits of this plant. When will they open their eyes and realize that scare-mongering is not helping, it's hurting....in every sense of the word.

using it for his MS here, has his own television show..oh boy, fog time...anyway he said it's been grown here and given to one patient for years in the US. I don't remember the details or what they give to the guy for.

For now the DEA says it has NO medicinal value, so they have spoken.
Merinol is legal but God help the dr that prescribes it. And then I think it's only for nausea in cancer patients.

I personally just wish they'd let us use whatever helps for our pain and let our doctors supervise that. It's almost as if they want people to be in pain, but for what purpose I don't
know. They ok things that eat our stomachs or cause neurological havoc
but don't like the least organ damaging meds available? It's all nuts.

Formal medical trials in the UK have shown that extracts from cannabis are effective in controlling pain where other painkillers aren't. Our biggest group looking for relief from symptoms with cannabis, seems to be those with MS.

An official research project is currently developing new drugs from cannabis. Could be a few years before they're available via the NHS, but at least someone has listened and acted.

There is a form of "pot" being used in the US. I use to raise funds for St.Jude Children's Research Hospital and had the opportunity to meet many of the wonderful kids there.

More then once, I had conversations with kids that had had bone marrow transplants and through the painful and nauseating treatment they had to go through prior to the transplants, they took, as they jokingly called it "pot in a pill".

I don't recall them saying how it worked on their pain levels, but they could at least keep substances in the stomachs and not completely waste away.

I don't know if it was just for those kids .... but it was most definately done and legal. This was 8 years ago. Don't know much about it since I haven't worked for St. Jude fund raising in a while.

See, that's the thing. There is no way for a consumer to know what they're smoking or ingesting. Street pot and other street drugs mostly have additives - typically other illegal substances, mostly chemical.

So whatever that person is smoking or ingesting could contain all kinds of things like meth, cocaine and God knows what else!

Also, illegal growers are growing "super strains" to increase the plant's production of THC to unnatural levels. Organically raised or home-grown marijuana is not that strong if left to its own devices.

Certainly not encouraging anyone here! Just stating my arguments which I've also made to gov't here.

Can you imagine how much money the gov't could make if they just made it legal, and TAXED it? Goodbye federal defecit.

I did a paper back in high school, and Hemp was banned because paper companies didn't want people using cheaper, better, hemp paper. That was before computers, when paper was big, big business. I am sure there were other reasons, but the paper industry had a huge role in making it illegal. High school was so long ago I don't remember the other reasons.

Schizophrenia from pot? I know there are studies on it but I think than any CNS depressant could have the same affect. Many people on prozac have committed suicide. People are going to find pain relief from something. Why not make it the least harmful to the body. Alcohol does quite a bit more damage to the body, lives and others than does pot. It all has to do with money. The government makes money on pot by making it illegal. Persons who sell it make much more than they would if it were legal. And you don't have to smoke it to kill the pain either so that makes it even less a harm on the body. Is it really a gateway drug. I think it is a long way from making a brownie to shoving a needle in your arm or between your toes....